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Hong Kong
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Background:
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Occupied by the UK in 1841, Hong
Kong was formally ceded by China the following year; various
adjacent lands were added later in the 19th century. Pursuant to
an agreement signed by China and the UK on 19 December 1984, Hong
Kong became the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) of
China on 1 July 1997. In this agreement, China has promised that,
under its "one country, two systems" formula, China's socialist
economic system will not be imposed on Hong Kong and that Hong
Kong will enjoy a high degree of autonomy in all matters except
foreign and defense affairs for the next 50 years. |
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Location:
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Eastern Asia, bordering the South
China Sea and China |
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Geographic
coordinates:
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22 15 N, 114 10 E |
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Area:
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total: 1,092 sq km
land: 1,042 sq km
water: 50 sq km |
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Area -
comparative:
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six times the size of Washington, DC
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Land boundaries:
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total: 30 km
regional border: China 30 km |
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Coastline:
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733 km |
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Maritime claims:
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territorial sea: 3 nm
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Climate:
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subtropical monsoon; cool and humid
in winter, hot and rainy from spring through summer, warm and
sunny in fall |
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Terrain:
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hilly to mountainous with steep
slopes; lowlands in north |
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Elevation
extremes:
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lowest point: South China Sea
0 m
highest point: Tai Mo Shan 958 m |
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Natural
resources:
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outstanding deepwater harbour,
feldspar |
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Land use:
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arable land: 5.05%
permanent crops: 1.01%
other: 93.94% (2001) |
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Irrigated land:
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20 sq km (1998 est.) |
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Natural hazards:
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occasional typhoons |
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Environment -
current issues:
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air and water pollution from rapid
urbanization |
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Environment -
international agreements:
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party to: Marine Dumping
(associate member) |
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Geography - note:
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more than 200 islands |
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Population:
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6,940,432 (July 2006 est.)
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Age structure:
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0-14 years: 13.5% (male
488,607/female 445,593)
15-64 years: 73.7% (male 2,495,679/female 2,620,336)
65 years and over: 12.8% (male 413,031/female 477,186)
(2006 est.) |
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Median age:
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total: 40.7 years
male: 40.4 years
female: 40.9 years (2006 est.) |
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Population growth
rate:
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0.59% (2006 est.) |
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Birth rate:
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7.29 births/1,000 population (2006
est.) |
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Death rate:
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6.29 deaths/1,000 population (2006
est.) |
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Net migration
rate:
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4.89 migrant(s)/1,000 population
(2006 est.) |
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Infant mortality
rate:
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total: 2.95 deaths/1,000 live
births
male: 3.13 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 2.75 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)
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Life expectancy
at birth:
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total population: 81.59 years
male: 78.9 years
female: 84.5 years (2006 est.) |
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Total fertility
rate:
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0.95 children born/woman (2006 est.)
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Nationality:
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noun: Chinese/Hong Konger
adjective: Chinese/Hong Kong |
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Ethnic groups:
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Chinese 95%, other 5% |
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Religions:
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eclectic mixture of local religions
90%, Christian 10% |
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Languages:
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Chinese (Cantonese), English; both
are official |
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Literacy:
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definition: age 15 and over
has ever attended school
total population: 93.5%
male: 96.9%
female: 89.6% (2002) |
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Country name:
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conventional long form: Hong
Kong Special Administrative Region
conventional short form: Hong Kong
local long form: Xianggang Tebie Xingzhengqu
local short form: Xianggang
abbreviation: HK |
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Dependency
status:
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special administrative region of
China |
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Government type:
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limited democracy |
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Administrative
divisions:
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none (special administrative region
of China) |
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Independence:
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none (special administrative region
of China) |
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National holiday:
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National Day (Anniversary of the
Founding of the People's Republic of China), 1 October (1949);
note - 1 July 1997 is celebrated as Hong Kong Special
Administrative Region Establishment Day |
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Constitution:
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Basic Law, approved in March 1990 by
China's National People's Congress, is Hong Kong's
"mini-constitution" |
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Legal system:
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based on English common law
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Suffrage:
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direct election 18 years of age;
universal for permanent residents living in the territory of Hong
Kong for the past seven years; indirect election limited to about
200,000 members of functional constituencies and an 800-member
election committee drawn from broad regional groupings, municipal
organizations, and central government bodies |
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Legislative
branch:
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unicameral Legislative Council or
LEGCO (60 seats; in 2004 30 seats indirectly elected by
functional constituencies, 30 elected by popular vote; members
serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 12 September 2004 (next to be held in
September 2008)
election results: percent of vote by party - pro-democracy
group 62%; seats by party - (pro-Beijing 34) DAB 12, Liberal
Party 10, independents 11, FTU 1; (pro-democracy 25) independents
11, Democratic Party 9, CTU 2, ADPL 1, Frontier Party 1, NWSC 1;
non-voting LEGCO president 1 |
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Judicial branch:
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Court of Final Appeal in the Hong
Kong Special Administrative Region |
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Economy -
overview:
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Hong Kong has a free market,
entrepot economy, highly dependent on international trade.
Natural resources are limited, and food and raw materials must be
imported. Gross imports and exports (i.e., including reexports to
and from third countries) each exceed GDP in dollar value. Even
before Hong Kong reverted to Chinese administration on 1 July
1997, it had extensive trade and investment ties with China. Hong
Kong has been further integrating its economy with China because
China's growing openness to the world economy has made
manufacturing in China much more cost effective. Hong Kong's
reexport business to and from China is a major driver of growth.
Per capita GDP is comparable to that of the four big economies of
Western Europe. GDP growth averaged a strong 5% from 1989 to
2005, but Hong Kong suffered two recessions in the past eight
years because of the Asian financial crisis in 1997-1998 and the
global downturn in 2001-2002. Although the Severe Acute
Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak in 2003 also battered Hong
Kong's economy, a solid rise in exports, a boom in tourism from
the mainland because of China's easing of travel restrictions,
and a return of consumer confidence resulted in the resumption of
strong growth from late 2003 through 2005. |
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GDP (purchasing
power parity):
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$258.1 billion (2005 est.)
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GDP (official
exchange rate):
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$179.4 billion (2005 est.)
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GDP - real growth
rate:
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6.9% (2005 est.) |
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GDP - per capita
(PPP):
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$37,400 (2005 est.) |
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GDP - composition
by sector:
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agriculture: 0.1%
industry: 10%
services: 89.9% (2005 est.) |
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Labor force:
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3.61 million (October 2005)
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Labor force - by
occupation:
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manufacturing 7.5%, construction
2.9%, wholesale and retail trade, restaurants, and hotels 43.9%,
financing, insurance, and real estate 19.6%, transport and
communications 7.1%, community and social services 18.8%
note: above data exclude public sector (2005 est.)
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Unemployment
rate:
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5.8% (December 2005) |
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Household income
or consumption by percentage share:
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lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
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Distribution of
family income - Gini index:
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43.4 (1996) |
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Inflation rate
(consumer prices):
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1.2% (2005 est.) |
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Investment (gross
fixed):
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21.2% of GDP (2005 est.)
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Budget:
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revenues: $31.31 billion
expenditures: $32.3 billion; including capital
expenditures of $5.9 billion (2005 est.) |
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Public debt:
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1.8% of GDP (2005 est.) |
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Agriculture -
products:
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fresh vegetables; poultry, pork;
fish |
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Industries:
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textiles, clothing, tourism,
banking, shipping, electronics, plastics, toys, watches, clocks
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Industrial
production growth rate:
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1% (2005 est.) |
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Electricity -
production:
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37.3 billion kWh (2004) |
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Electricity -
consumption:
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39.22 billion kWh (2004)
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Electricity -
exports:
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3.086 billion kWh (2004)
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Electricity -
imports:
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9.84 billion kWh (2004) |
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Oil -
consumption:
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293,000 bbl/day (2004 est.)
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Natural gas -
consumption:
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692.2 million cu m (2003 est.)
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Natural gas -
imports:
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71.15 million cu m (2004 est.)
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Current account
balance:
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$23.85 billion (2005 est.)
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Exports:
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$286.3 billion f.o.b., including
reexports (2005 est.) |
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Exports -
commodities:
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electrical machinery and appliances,
textiles, apparel, footwear, watches and clocks, toys, plastics,
precious stones, printed material |
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Exports -
partners:
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China 44%, US 16.9%, Japan 5.3%
(2004) |
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Imports:
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$291.6 billion (2005 est.)
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Imports -
commodities:
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raw materials and semi-manufactures,
consumer goods, capital goods, foodstuffs, fuel (most is
re-exported) |
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Imports -
partners:
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China 43.5%, Japan 12.1%, Taiwan
7.3%, US 5.3%, Singapore 5.3%, South Korea 4.8% (2004)
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Reserves of
foreign exchange and gold:
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$122.3 billion (2005 est.)
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Debt - external:
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$416.5 billion (30 June 2005 est.)
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Currency (code):
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Hong Kong dollar (HKD) |
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Fiscal year:
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1 April - 31 March |
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Telephones - main
lines in use:
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3,763,300 (2004) |
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Telephones -
mobile cellular:
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8.214 million (2004) |
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Telephone system:
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general assessment: modern
facilities provide excellent domestic and international services
domestic: microwave radio relay links and extensive fiber-optic
network
international: country code - 852; satellite earth
stations - 3 Intelsat (1 Pacific Ocean and 2 Indian Ocean);
coaxial cable to Guangzhou, China; access to 5 international
submarine cables providing connections to ASEAN member nations,
Japan, Taiwan, Australia, Middle East, and Western Europe
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Radio broadcast
stations:
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AM 5, FM 9, shortwave 0 (2004)
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Television
broadcast stations:
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55 low power stations
note: two TV networks, each one broadcasting on two
channels (2006) |
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Internet country
code:
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.hk |
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Internet hosts:
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859,926 (2005) |
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Internet users:
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4,878,713 (2005) |
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Airports:
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3 (2005) |
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Airports - with
paved runways:
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total: 3
over 3,047 m: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1
under 914 m: 1 (2005) |
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Heliports:
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3 (2005) |
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Roadways:
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total: 1,831 km
paved: 1,831 km (1999) |
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Merchant marine:
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total: 895 ships (1000 GRT or
over) 29,662,934 GRT/50,199,048 DWT
by type: barge carrier 2, bulk carrier 485, cargo 122,
chemical tanker 39, combination ore/oil 6, container 122,
liquefied gas 21, passenger 6, passenger/cargo 6, petroleum
tanker 72, roll on/roll off 2, specialized tanker 4, vehicle
carrier 8
foreign-owned: 534 (Belgium 3, Canada 23, China 259,
Denmark 6, France 3, Germany 7, Greece 28, Indonesia 3, Japan 64,
South Korea 12, Monaco 1, Norway 22, Philippines 15, Singapore
25, Taiwan 8, UAE 1, UK 35, US 19)
registered in other countries: 407 (The Bahamas 7, Belgium
1, Belize 8, Bermuda 6, Cambodia 10, China 7, Cyprus 1, French
Southern and Antarctic Lands 3, Honduras 2, India 1, Isle of Man
1, Liberia 40, Malaysia 14, Malta 2, Marshall Islands 8, Norway
50, Panama 168, Philippines 2, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
6, Singapore 53, Taiwan 3, Tuvalu 7, Venezuela 1, unknown 6)
(2005) |
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Ports and
terminals:
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Hong Kong |
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Military
branches:
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no regular indigenous military
forces; Hong Kong garrison of China's People's Liberation Army (PLA)
includes elements of the PLA Ground Forces, PLA Navy, and PLA Air
Force; these forces are under the direct leadership of the
Central Military Commission in Beijing and under administrative
control of the adjacent Guangzhou Military Region |
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Military - note:
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defence is the responsibility of China |
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Disputes -
international:
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none |
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Illicit drugs:
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makes strenuous law enforcement
efforts, but faces difficult challenges in controlling transit of
heroin and methamphetamine to regional and world markets; modern
banking system provides conduit for money laundering; rising
indigenous use of synthetic drugs, especially among young people
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